The Red Sox are in need of a big day as they try to recover from their heartbreaking Friday loss to the Yankees in the first game of their Saturday doubleheader.
We'll keep you up-to-date on all the action as it goes down in Fenway Park.
Yankees 6, Red Sox 1, Mid 9th -- Germano continues to be a bright spot, picking up strikeouts six and seven as he completes his sixth scoreless inning of work against the Yankees.
Yankees 6, Red Sox 1, End 8th -- David Ortiz reaches base for the fourth time today on his third walk, and is stranded for the third time as well. Three outs away from a five game losing streak.
Yankees 6, Red Sox 1, Mid 8th -- Germano runs into some more trouble with back-to-back one-out singles putting runners on the corners. The long-reliever battles back, however, striking out both Mark Teixeira and Alex Rodriguez to end the inning in style.
Yankees 6, Red Sox 1, End 7th -- Kelly Shoppach doubles, but it comes with two outs in the inning and Brent Lillibridge can do nothing, sending the game to the eighth with the score still stuck at 6-1.
Yankees 6, Red Sox 1, Mid 7th -- Germano works around another single. His solid performance is keeping the rest of the pen fresh for the second half of the doubleheader that starts in all of about four hours.
Yankees 6, Red Sox 1, End 6th -- David Ortiz draws a walk, and for a minute it looks like the Sox are ready to mount another rally when Adrian Gonzalez hits a rocket out to left. Unfortunately, though, Andruw Jones is able to make the grab, smashing into the wall to do so, and then throws to Robinson Cano who doubles up Ortiz at first, though perhaps with the help of a favorable call as Mark Teixeira may have come off the bag.
Yankees 6, Red Sox 1, Mid 6th -- A single from Derek Jeter is all the Yankees get off Germano in the sixth, leaving the deficit at five.
Yankees 6, Red Sox 1, End 5th -- A two-out rally featuring singles from Brent Lillibridge and Daniel Nava falls short as Pedro Ciriaco imitates Wise's inning-ending comebacker.
Yankees 6, Red Sox 1, Mid 5th -- Justin Germano finds himself in trouble in the fifth. After striking out Alex Rodriguez to start the inning, Germano surrendered a double to Robinson Cano and then walked Nick Swisher to put two on with one out. Another strikeout and walk served to leave the bases loaded with two outs, leaving Joe Girardi to call on Dewayne Wise to pinch hit for Darnell McDonald. The substitution doesn't lead to any runs, however, as Wise grounds back to the mound to end the threat.
Yankees 6, Red Sox 1, End 4th -- The Sox are finally on the board, but it comes as more of a whimper than a bang. David Ortiz gets the biggest contact of the inning, hitting a high drive to left field that bounces high off the Monster for a Fenway single. Gonzalez shoots a line drive into Center to move Ortiz to second, and Mauro Gomez finds a hole in the right side of the infield, bringing him in to score before a Ryan Kalish double play ends the frame.
Yankees 6, Red Sox 0, Mid 4th -- Back-to-back homers for Andruw Jones and Jayson Nix makes the New York lead a far less approachable six runs and serve to chase Franklin Morales from the game with a solidly failing grade in his first real challenge after converting back to the starting rotation.
Yankees 4, Red Sox 0, End 3rd -- The Sox go 1-2-3 again. Somehow Freddy Garcia has a no-hitter through three.
Yankees 4, Red Sox 0, Mid 3rd -- Franklin Morales is saved from more damage by his pickoff move in the third inning. After allowing the first two batters to reach base, Morales managed to strike out Robinson Cano, and then with Nick Swisher at the plate fired to first to catch Alex Rodriguez jumping the gun on a stolen base attempt. While Swisher would ultimately draw the walk,another deceptive move had him picked off as well, leaving the Yankees with a scoreless third.
Yankees 4, Red Sox 0, End 2nd -- Unfortunately, things go just as well for Garcia, who picks up his first 1-2-3 inning of the game. Garcia has been struggling this year, but the Sox gave him a Triple-A lineup to face and he's doing what you'd expect a major leaguer to do.
Yankees 4, Red Sox 0, Mid 2nd -- Franklin Morales has a much easier time, enjoying a 1-2-3 inning on a pop-up, strike out, and ground out as he quiets the Yankees lineup following an explosive first.
Yankees 4, Red Sox 0, End 1st -- No fight-back for the Red Sox this time. Daniel Nava hits a pop-up, Pedro Ciriaco strikes out, and while David Ortiz draws a two-out walk, Adrian Gonzalez hits a terribly familiar ground ball to first base to end the inning.
Yankees 4, Red Sox 0, Mid 1st -- Is this a rerun? Just 17 hours after scoring five in the first inning against Josh Beckett, the Yankees put a four-spot up on Franklin Morales in the first inning Saturday. To be fair to Morales, he did not start out as poorly as Beckett. Derek Jeter picked up a leadoff hit on a bloop to center, and with two outs Cano's acting abilities may have cost him a second, as what sounded like a foul ball was ruled a hit-by-pitch leaving two men on for Nick Swisher.
That's when things got legitimately bad. Falling behind 1-0, Morales grooved a fastball over the plate to Nick Swisher, and the outfielder sent it a long way to left, over everything for a three-run shot that had the Sox once again staring at an early deficit. It only got worse after a long battle against Andruw Jones, who saw a similar pitch and left with similar results, albeit with his shot coming on a line that kept it in the Monster seats, leaving the Yankees ahead 4-0 after one.